pmacfar

Not too long ago in a local club game, I picked up a hand with eight spades to the AK, Qxx in hearts and Qx in clubs and my partner opened 1NT. Figuring that partners points were mostly outside the spade suit and that he held at least two spades, I made a 2H transfer bid and then went into Blackwood, ending in 6S, figuring that the only way it would go down was if my LHO had all three missing spades topped by the Q. Partner had Jx in spades, which split 2-1, and AK in both hearts and clubs, making 7. Got a top score on that board. Phil

4NT - the high level version of Unusual NT. Tell partner we don't have a good enough fit with his ♥s and you don't see stopping their 4♠ contract, but we should have a better fit in one of the minors and that he needs to pick it. It will also help to push the opponents to the 5 level. And with favorable vulnerability, down 2 doubled is better than the 4♠ vulnerable score. Phil

It certainly seems that limit raises are a topic I will put on my list for reading. By the way, how did this thread (started with Mathe) get turned inside out into one about Limit Raises? :)

Yes, I was only talking about IMPs/MPs. Team games require a more conservative approach because if you bid game and go down and the opps only bid the part score there will be a big swing in the match in their favor. If you bid game and make and the opps only bid the part score, the board goes in favor of your team but only by about 5 MPs (compared to 10+ in the other situation). The sample hands provided are poor examples, why would either partner open the bidding in the first place? In the second hand, assuming the person with the 12 HCP hand opens the bidding, why would the responder be making a Limit Raise with only 8 HCP's????? Phil

I concur here. I'd rather bid the game and go down than stop short and make the game. Hands frequently can make game because of distribution. Phil

[hv=d=n&v=n&n=sakjxhaqxdakqcaqx&s=s108xhxxd9xxxxcxxx]133|200|Scoring: MP[/hv] My partner and I picked up the following hand (I was sitting South) and the bidding went as follows: 2♣ - P - 2♦ - P 6N - P - P - P East has four to the Q♠, thus partner is never able to get to board to cash good diamonds. West has K-J in both ♥ and ♣. Opening lead was a low ♥ from East, won with the Queen by declarer. After running his ♦'s, clearing the suit, declarer played J♠ to try to entice East to win with Q♠ and setup entry to dummy. But East did not bite. After winning AK♠, declarer gave East her Q♠ and she lead back ♥ for down 1. I think that after East letting the J♠ win, and clearing ♠s, declarer should endplay West (which suit ♥ or ♣?) and make West lead to him and hopefully set up the Q♣ for the 12th trick. Any other suggestions, per line of play? Such as leading the J♠ before running the ♦s

What do we know at this point? 1. On the opening lead, what did East signal? Assuming East encourages, holding the AK♠, West must not be able to continue the suit. Thus, spades are 6-1. 2. Since East lead his 4th best club, clubs are 4-3. 3. With at least 4 Hearts, East might have made a takeout double over 1♦. Thus, East has maximum of 3 hearts. West has minimum of 4 hearts. Thus, likey distributions are 1444 or 1534 for West and 6223 or 6133 for East. Only a 4-2 ♦ (or worse) split hurts and if East holds 'em, the contract is doomed anyway. If West holds 'em, the finesse is the only way to succeed. Thus, odds are best that playing for the drop will fail while the finesse will work. Phil M.

If South leads a small diamond. EW will win 4 diamonds, A♠ and 2 hearts to make the contract with 3 overtricks. But that ain't gonna happen. He must lead a spade. After taking the A♠, West will take his two heart tricks (South discarding spades, North discarding clubs), then lead the diamond. Upon which East will rise with the K♦ and collect the Q♦ for 1 overtrick. But at IMPS, 1/2 overtricks is not worth much. Phil

In addition to the 4C bid over NT being Gerber, a few of my regular partners and I use 4C as Gerber when either of the following occurs: 1. A natural club bid has not been made. or, 2. The 4C bid results in a jump (by passing the three level) Phil

[hv=d=e&v=b&s=s8xxxxxhkjxxxxdqc]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Bidding goes as follows: 2C - P - 2N* - ? * Step Responses (10 - 12) What is your bid?

Which partner gets the blame? :) The one that made the double or the one that failed to take it out and bid something else?

[hv=d=n&v=b&s=s10xhxxxdakjxcaxxx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Bidding Goes as follows: N - E - S - W 1S - 2H - X* - P 2S - 3H - ? *negative (for minors) How many spades does/should partner have? What should be my next bid? Thanks

[hv=d=w&v=n&s=sqjxxxhdkqxxxxcxx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] Sitting South, and West as dealer, bidding goes as follows: 1C - X - P - 1S P - 1N - P - ? Answer the following questions: 1. What is strength of partner's hand? 2. What should be my next bid? Thanks

2♣ for the majors is very reasonable. The hand is in the upper edge of the higher point range for the Michael's bid. As for the partner.....When the Michael's bid is made, the first objective should be to show the three card support for one of partner's 5 card suits. By not showing support for one of the suits is showing shortness in both suits. Thus, 2♠ should be his response....Then the o'caller can decide how to continue... Being that duplicate awards for game, I would agressively bid to 4♠ with a 4-loser hand.

[hv=d=w&v=e&s=sxhqxxxdkqj98xxcq]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] You and your parter play Inverted Minors. What is your response to partner opening 1♦????

[hv=d=w&v=b&s=sqj108xxh10xdkxxxca]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] In club play last night, sitting East, I had the above hand after partner opened 1H and RHO preempted 3♦. What is your call?

Hand 1) Double. If partner bids clubs/hearts you can compete. King spades appears safe. With a higher and/or extra honor in hearts, o'call 2H. Hand 2) Pass. Too many fast losers and K♦ may not be safe. See what develops from partner bidding.

At least 3. (the other players at the table) :P

I second that. Very revolting. 3♦ inv min is first choice. 1NT is a very distant second option. only one of the 2 major suits is stopped, and even with KJx, that may not be enough to prevent ops from running the majors. In addition, it does not give partner any useful info in which to based his next decision on. A 3♦ bid will certainly keep west quiet, and thus opps won't get into the bidding. leaving partner to play the contract at a safe level.

Why not make the lead directing double after south's 5♦ response to partner's blackwood to direct partner which suit to lead? the only risk is that north leaves it at 5♦X, making six, but that does not score as well as slam, so north probably will not leave the double in.

I agree that with partner and I having 10 - 14 points, opps have game, having played with partner only a few times I tried to steal the hand by bidding 4♣. Unfortunately, partner took it as Gerber (NOT - that was partner's lesson for the night), and you know the rest of the story..... B) Kibitzing after the hand, I should probably have bid 4♦, then I could bid 5♣ and partner could correct to 5♦. Partner had 1 club and Axx in diamonds. I believe that 5♦ only loses a heart and one or two diamonds, making or only down 1. Even vuln and X'd, that is better than opps making game. (clubs were 4-2, with RHO having the 4, so the Ace covers partners singleton and three cross-ruffs sets up two long clubs in hand. Partner's diamond spot cards were like 98 or 97, good for over-ruffing or forcing high roughs by opponents)

[hv=d=w&v=e&s=shxdjxxxxxcaxxxxx]133|100|Scoring: MP[/hv] In my duplicate game last night (Monday) sitting East I picked up the above hand and bidding goes as follows: 2♠ - 2NT - ? What is your bid?

Pass is the last thing I would do after a 2♣ opener. With the hand provided, respond 2♦ and see what partner does. If he bids 2♥, rebid 3♣ (2nd negative, less than 3 pts.) If he bids 2NT, pass. you know partner only has 22-23 HCP. the tough one is when he bids 2♠, partner denies having a heart suit, you have 3 card support for his ♠s and he probably has a minor suit for which you have a second suit fit with.

I agree with pclayton. 3♠ against NT partial game to get the 'Tempo' of setting up my four card suit. 10♣ against NT game, make user work for the tricks. You don't know if declarer has a four card major, or which one it is. In partial game, not leading the spade you run the risk of giving declarer overtricks he doesn't deserve because he is able to run a 5 card minor suit and squeeze you to discard before your trick has been established. If partner is lucky enough to hold A or K ♠, setting up your Q unless declarer holds up his winner, it will make selecting discards a little easier.

This reminds me of a hand I had in a casual team game a few years ago, holding AKQ♥s and opponents bid 4♥. I doubled, figuring my partner for one trick in the side suites. LHO redoubled. Declarer made the contract, losing only the trump honors. Only difference in hand was my teammates failed to redouble. S*** Happens!!!!!